


give my heart a holiday

by ladyflaneur



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Artist Sokka (Avatar), Based On a Troye Sivan Song, Bisexual Disaster Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Emo Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gay Zuko (Avatar), I'm Bad At Tagging, Jock Sokka (Avatar), M/M, Minor Aang/Katara, Not entirely though, Song: Strawberries and Cigarettes (Troye Sivan), Strangers to Lovers, Writer Zuko (Avatar), Zukka Nation, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, also i KNOW republic city isn't until tlok but it's the only place not in a specific element region, but also like, but i did include pronunciation for you bad boys, he MEGA smart, i almost forgot these baddies whoops, inspired by we'll say, it's not quite enemies to friends to lovers, mentions of abuse, misunderstanding to friends to lovers?, more like, that's my favorite tag, they have non-canon last names i'm sorry i didn't have a choice, we LOVE azula in this house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:00:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27586459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyflaneur/pseuds/ladyflaneur
Summary: Zuko turned to Sokka once Dr. Zei had finished his speech, bringing his hand up to his forehead. “Look, this situation obviously isn’t ideal for either of us, okay? We don’t seem to be entirely… compatible.”Sokka blinked. “Hold on, I never said—”“My point is, we both know that this isn’t going to work. So, I’ll worry about my things, you can worry about yours, and if either of us is in dire need of help, then we can worry about working together. Right now, it’s probably just best if we stay out of each other’s business and just do what we need to get by. Deal?”(in which sokka and zuko are assigned as lab partners and are forced to learn how to work with each other)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33





	give my heart a holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko could not think of a single place that could be worse than here.
> 
> Sokka couldn't be happier to be returning here for his second year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alrighty guys, gals, and non-binary pals: here we are.
> 
> firstly, i wanna preface this by saying that i have two absolutely amazing beta readers: [harmonicallychaos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/harmonicallychaos) and [Never_Land](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Never_Land). this wouldn't be possible without you guys. 
> 
> secondly, hoooo boy we're back. this fic has been in development for MONTHS (i think its concept dates back to like,,, july?). i'm so glad i get to share it with you guys now. 
> 
> if you didn't read the tags, this is loosely inspired by a song called "strawberries and cigarettes" by troye sivan. this is not a songfic. i did, however, snatch the title and this chapter title from that song. i def recommend checking it out. you don't need it for the story, but it fills me with a large amount of serotonin.
> 
> and now, without further ado, i hope you guys enjoy "give my heart a holiday!"

Zuko could not think of a single place that could be worse than here.

His body jolted as the bus went over a pothole, causing his head to swiftly  _ whack _ against the back of his seat. He turned the volume in his earbuds up, desperately trying to drown out the revolting sound of every other student surrounding him. Namely Azula who, although seated next to him, was practically screaming across the aisle to talk to Mai and Ty Lee. The incessant noise coming in all directions was the last thing he wanted to  _ hear, _ the bus to school was the last place he wanted to  _ be, _ and his first day of junior year was the last thing he wanted to  _ do _ .

After two years of attendance at Republic City High School, the mindless classes, painfully annoying students, and lackluster teachers should be normal to him, and yet, they still weren’t. Or rather, they  _ were _ normal, but it still wasn’t something he could become desensitized to. In fact, that was the complete opposite of the issue.

Zuko knew all too well the hellhole he was forced to be in right now—he could count on his fingers the number of places that could somehow manage to be worse than a crowded bus on its way to a public high school.

So he continued to blast music loud into his ears, despite the max volume being nowhere near loud enough. He pulled out his phone once more to check his schedule, making a mental map of where he’d be travelling today. He had creative writing and poetry first period, then pre-cal for second, lunch, theatre II, and, finally, chemistry I. Zuko rolled his eyes as he read the name of his fourth period teacher for the third time that morning. Of  _ course _ he would get stuck with Dr. Zei again. That was just his luck.

Truth be told, he failed chemistry I as a sophomore. He shouldn’t have to worry, considering he had more than enough credit hours to graduate, but the red mark on his record wasn’t particularly pleasing to Iroh. The thing was, his uncle knew all too well that Zuko hadn’t failed because the class was too hard; he failed simply because he didn’t care enough to apply himself, and advised him to take the class again. Zuko, who couldn’t live with the disappointment in Iroh’s eyes, begrudgingly obliged.

And he was partially correct, chemistry wasn’t all that difficult. Zuko just couldn’t force himself to put effort into something he so violently hated. If he had a decent lab partner, it would’ve been easy. Last year, he was paired with some kid named Jet. He was decent enough, but all-in-all kind of a delinquent, meaning that Zuko’s academic experience in the course was less than ideal. This year, he was practically praying to get paired with a halfway-competent partner, who cared just enough about their grade to drag Zuko along with them, but not  _ too much _ to try and push him to do his fair share of work. But if his teacher was any tell to how his luck this semester would turn out, his chances were slim. 

His thoughts were abruptly cut off when the school bus pulled to a screeching halt, letting out the ear piercing shriek that signaled all the students to stand. Normally, Zuko hung behind in his seat, trying to avoid the unnecessary contact of all the students shoving between each other, desperately trying to get off of one torture device simply to enter a different one. Today however, Azula practically pulled him by the tail, grabbing his wrist and whipping him around with her.

He huffed, shoving his free hand into his pocket as he walked. He hung his head low, allowing his shaggy hair to fall in front of his eyes. He had the intention to cut it over the summer— _ really, _ he did—but he just continued to put it off, and, well… he didn’t have shame in denying that it  _ was _ helpful at hiding his face.

It’s not that Zuko didn’t want to be seen. Not entirely. It was mostly because it was just easier to  _ not _ be. Besides, it’s not like he was much to look at anyway.

He watched as everybody dispersed into their respective groups upon getting off of the bus. It was still just so early; he would never be able to understand how people managed to be so peppy in the mornings, especially in a place like school. Everything here was absolutely awful, from the late bell ringing in the morning to the extensive hours of homework he brought to his house each night. Draining, even. School was—quite frankly—the only thing Zuko had going for him and he  _ still _ despised it. And he still had two more years to go.  _ Fuck. _

Azula pulled him into a relatively empty hallway upon entering the building, waving off Mai and Ty Lee as they both headed in different directions. She sighed, taking her thumb and forefinger to pinching at the skin on the base of her forehead, as if she were an elderly woman and not a fifteen-year-old girl. She placed her other hand on Zuko’s shoulder. 

“You’re not going to turn this year into another shitshow for yourself, are you?” She asked.

Zuko blinked twice. Well,  _ that _ was certainly blunt. Of course, this was Azula he was talking to. She had certainly grown kinder and more understanding in the past three years, but Azula was still Azula. She had never been one to beat around the bush, even if she knew she was hitting somebody where it hurt. And while this wasn’t something that necessarily  _ hurt, _ it still didn’t feel nice to bring up, either.

In the end, Zuko shrugged. “It’ll be a shitshow regardless.”

She scoffed at him. “You could at least help yourself out a little. Things don’t have to be as bad as they are.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “You just finished your freshman year, don’t come at me like you know shit,” he snapped. He typically only snapped at people as a scare tactic to get people off of his back, but of course, it stirred no reaction from her. She just stared at him, half-perturbed, half-concerned.

“Just talk to some people, okay?” She exasperated, dropping the hand on her forehead to dramatically meet her side. “For your own sake. Why not somebody like Mai? Didn’t you used to be into each other, anyway? It would be  _ so _ easy.”

Zuko sneered. He couldn’t remember the last time he thought of Mai that way—it must’ve been at least a year or so. And he did  _ not _ have the energy to explain that to Azula right now. “I would literally rather talk to anybody else.”

She placed her other hand on his other shoulder, the look in her eyes loving—in her weird Azula way. “Look, I’m worried about you. I know you’ve never been the talkative type, but this level of anti-socialness isn’t helpful for anyone. And, honestly, the secondhand embarrassment is becoming too much to bear. Please, promise me that you’ll at least try to talk to somebody today?”

He shifted, brushing away her arms, folding his arms firmly across his chest. “Is this the only reason you pulled me over here?”

“In theory.”

“Then thanks, but no thanks.” He stopped, waiting for her to reply, but she simply glared at him, eyebrows raised as if to say  _ ‘do you really want to go there now, boy?'  _ “The bell is about to ring, anyways. Wouldn’t want to be late on the first day.”

“Zuzu,” she started, her voice now laced with an icy touch to it. “You know you don’t give a shit about being tardy.”

“No, but her royal highness might,” Zuko retorted, drawing a small  _ hmph _ out of Azula. “I’ll see you this afternoon, Azula.”

He didn’t wait for Azula to reply. He turned on his heel and booked it towards the only class of the day that wasn’t going to give him a splitting headache.

**__________**

Sokka couldn’t be happier to be returning to Republic City High for his second year.

As he and Katara shut the doors of their Gran Gran’s silver 2012 Prius, Sokka was practically bursting at the seams with excitement. He had been counting down the days until he was able to see his best friends everyday again since the first day of summer, adrenaline flowing through his veins at the thought that that day was finally here. Not to mention, he wouldn't be seen as a scrawny freshman anymore, he and Katara were at the same school again (albeit the gap between them only being a year apart), and he managed to squeeze into his first engineering class a year early.

Yeah, life was good.

Katara had won the passenger seat argument today, but it didn’t really work out in her favor, seeing as how she was constantly turning behind her to pelt Sokka with questions—most of which he'd already answered. 

He was fiddling with his puka shell necklace, bouncing his leg up and down to whatever FM station his Gran Gran had softly playing through the speakers  _ (“When you finally learn how to drive, Sokka, then you can choose what music gets played in the car.”), _ when the first of the endless stream of questions hit.

“Wait, so is the four-hundred hall the science hall or the math hall?” She asked, shuffling through her phone for her online schedule. Sokka cleared his throat behind her as he was slapped out of his anticipated trance. When he didn’t answer immediately she whipped her head around, raising her eyebrows expectantly. He smirked at her, making her scowl.

He rested his head on the seat behind him. “Yeah, four-hundred and nine-hundred are gonna be your sciences, which is nice, considering they’re right on top of each other. You’ll have more advanced stuff in nine-hundred, but four-hundred is gonna have your basics, like biology.”

“Right. And didn’t you have Mr. Omashu last year for bio, too?”

Sokka nodded, still leaning his head back. “Call him Bumi, he thinks it makes him sound ‘younger.’ I mean, it really doesn’t do much, considering the guy is a walking fossil, but it’s a nice enough gesture. He’s pretty cool, just a little eccentric. He really likes when students ask questions, he tends to go on tangents about random things when they do,” he paused, sucking his teeth, racking his brain for anything else he should remember. “Oh, yeah, and try not to get on his bad side. I’ve heard stories about his hidden dark side, and trust me, they’re not pretty. Just do your work and don’t light the room on fire, and you’ll be fine.”

“What about Mr. Fu, for English?”

Sokka winced a little. “I didn’t have him, but from what I can tell, he’s not the greatest. Everybody says he’s kinda snappy with the students, and that he definitely plays favorites. He’s also pretty quick to contact home, so I’d be careful about that, unless you want to feel Gran Gran’s wrath.”

Katara opened her mouth to respond, but her train of thought was interrupted with a swift “She won’t have to feel Gran Gran’s wrath on my watch,” from the driver’s seat. “Isn’t that right, Katara?”

Katara waved a hand at her Gran Gran’s side eye. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Stay on track, and all.”

“And I’ll clock anybody who gives her any shit,” Sokka chimed in.

“Language!” She yelled, giving Sokka the same eye that she had given Katara just a moment ago. 

Sokka rolled his eyes, knowing that unless he was doing something actually detrimental, that she was all bark, no bite. “Next teacher, Katara?”

“Mr. Feng, for world history.”

He pursed his lips and popped them back out, slightly chuckling to himself when he heard the name. “Yeah, Haru had him last year, and did nothing but complain about him. I mean, Haru is one of the nicest, smartest, and most diligent people I’ve ever met, and yet, the guy  _ still _ hated him. A lot of his students say he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about, but he’s from this really wealthy family that donated money for a new fine arts center last year, so they keep him around. I was lucky enough to not have to deal with him, but from what I’ve gathered, it’s not that great.”

Katara hit her head against the head of the seat and groaned. “Great. So all of my teachers completely suck, except for the smelly old guy.”

“Hey!” Sokka struck in defensively, “I’ll have you know Bumi is one of the coolest teachers of all time, albeit him being a little weird. Tell him you’re my sister, he’ll give you special treatment. Also, tell him I said hi and that I miss him dearly. This year I have Dr. Zei for my science,” he finished with a scoff.

“Yeah? And what about him?” She asked, curiosity lacing her words.

“He’s just…” he paused, sighing, kicking his feet up on the console between Katara and Gran Gran’s seats. “How do I put this? Judgemental, I guess? I met him at registration, I think he already thinks I’m stupid, as if I’m not ten times smarter than the rest of the class. I mean, I get it, I’m not like every other snobby suck-up that’s usually one of the smarter ones, but you at least have to give me the benefit of the doubt. It’s not my fault I’m not some rich-boy priss, and that I like to have fun every once in a while.”

“You know, when I ask you a question, I don’t need your whole life story,” Katara teased, but all it did was earn her a swift kick in the arm.

“We’re siblings, Katara,” he retorted, glaring at her, “We  _ share _ a life story.”

“Yeah, well, not all of our life stories include being the valedictorian of our class while simultaneously being an incompetent jock.”

“You know, you’re losing  _ my-brother-has-been-in-high-school-before-so-he-can-seriously-help-me-out _ points.”

She shook her head disapprovingly at him. “Fine, whatever. I’ll shut up. We’re just about there, anyways.”

“Sure you don’t have any other last minute questions?”

“I’ll survive. And I’ll clock anybody who gives me shit.”

Sokka fist-bumped her, Gran Gran only choosing to scoff instead of calling her out on the profanity. “That’s the attitude,” he told Katara with a playful wink.

**__________**

“Teo, Haru!” Sokka enthusiastically greeted as he came up behind the two boys, waiting for him in the common area before the bell rang. He walked in between them and slung his arms around their shoulders, slouching into the hold. “You boys miss me?”

“Sokka!” Teo cheered after his nerves settled from Sokka’s surprise. “Are you kidding? That’s an understatement. It was so weird barely seeing you all summer.” 

“Yeah, man,” Haru chimed in, pulling Sokka in for one of those awkward jock side hugs. “Where’ve you been? It’s not the same without you.”

Sokka made a  _ pshh  _ noise with his lips, brushing off the question. “Well, you know. Gran Gran can’t drive me everywhere, I still don’t have my license yet, the whole shebang. I just have to get all of that sorted out, and once I do, you guys’ll get tired of seeing my face so much. And, besides, it doesn’t matter now. We’ve got this whole school year ahead of us!”

Teo and Haru were Sokka’s closest friends, and he truly had no idea where he’d be without them. They were always there for each other no matter the weather, and found a friendship dynamic in each other not many people manage to find in their entire lives. The three of them were completely inseparable, constantly filling the school with laughter and terrible jokes wherever they went.

Sokka met Teo when he was ten years old. He had just moved to Republic City, leaving him and his sister with no other family, no friends, and no familiarity. After weeks of sitting in silence at lunch, Teo approached him with a welcoming smile and a simple introduction. Except, instead of introducing himself back, ten-year-old Sokka bluntly asked him what a “normal kid” was doing in a wheelchair. Luckily, Teo seemed to realize he had no malicious intent, and simply laughed it off. They found themselves sitting at lunch together from then on, growing closer as the days passed. By the end of that year they were already best friends, and ended up sticking together all the way through middle and high school together, too.

Sokka introduced Haru to Teo towards the beginning of last school year, yet it feels like they’ve all known each other for their entire lives. They met on the first day of soccer conditioning, Sokka recognizing Haru as the only other freshman there. They were forced to stick together at that point as the only real defense they had against the older kids, who gave them shit just to give them shit. Upon finding out that Haru had just moved to the city and didn’t really know anybody else, Sokka promptly invited him to join his and Teo’s lunch table, and it had been the three of them against high school ever since.

Teo laughed, elbowing Sokka in the side. “We’d better. Haru isn’t as fun as you are.”

“Dude, what the hell? Am I not good enough for you, or something?” Haru fake-whined, hitting Teo in the back of the head and knocking his glasses off. “I’m plenty of fun, I just don’t believe in getting baked in the locker room right before finals,” he added, giving Sokka the side eye.

Sokka threw his arms up in defense. “Hey, taking Mrs. Wu’s final high last year was seriously easier than being in her class sober. I swear, that woman is on LSD writing her lessons.”

“Don’t be too quick to judge LSD, you know,” Teo scolded, waving his finger at Sokka. “Maybe she’s just trying to open her third-eye.”

All of the boys broke out into laughter, Sokka thriving in these silly little moments that he’d missed over the past three months. “Alright, junkies, the bell’s about to ring. Teo, I’ll see you in third period, Haru, I’ll see you at conditioning after school?”

Teo and Haru looked at each other and nodded. “Sounds like a solid plan to me, chief,” Haru finally added.

Sokka saw himself off to his first period class with a swift pair of finger guns and a click of his tongue in the direction of his two friends. “Try not to miss me too much, boys.”

“Trust me, we won’t!” Haru called from behind him as Sokka walked in his first period. He shook his head with a cheesy smile, and was on his merry way to start the new school year.

**__________**

Zuko walked into his fourth and final period of the day with the beginnings of a migraine pushing at the back of his temples. The feeling was all too familiar; he was tired, annoyed, the dread setting in only further and  _ further _ as the day progressed—and it was finally starting to get to him. At this point, the only assignment that’d been given to him that he had any interest in doing was his introductory poem for creative writing. Everything had just already been so dry and dreary, and chemistry I with Dr. Zei for the second year in a row was just the cherry on the top of the shitty-semester cake.

“Ah, it’s good to see you again, Mr. Susano,” he said in a tone that was a strange mix of professionalism and pretentiousness. Zuko sneered at him. Dr. Zei had a habit of referring to his students by last name, and Zuko was far from excited to endure that two times over. “Take a seat anywhere you’d like, but don’t get too comfortable. You’ll be moving desks once I pair you with your partner for the semester.”

Zuko only nodded in response, taking a seat in the lab table furthest to the back and to the right. He tapped his pencil on the desk in pure boredom, scanning the class as more students filed in. There were a few kids he recognized, like that girl Jin who asked him on a date last year, or one of Jet’s cronies with a funky nickname (Smellerbee, was it?), but overall—seeing as how the majority of the class was a grade below him—he didn’t see a whole lot of familiar faces. He stopped bothering after a while, letting his mind drift to the scenery of the classroom.

It had changed a bit over the summer, but was definitely still recognizable. It had the same bleach-white walls, overwhelming vinegar smell, and cheesy decorative posters that all teachers seemed to have. Some of them had been moved around, and there were a few he hadn’t recognized before, but there was one that caught his eye. It was in the same spot as last year: a big, gaudy, self-made poster which read “WARNING: I tell jokes periodically in Dr. Zei’s class!” sprawled above the whiteboard. Zuko had to keep his eyes from rolling into the back of his head at the sight. Not only was the joke stupid, it was also a complete lie; Dr. Zei had a rod up his ass 100% of the time, and Zuko spoke from experience.

He was only snapped out of his thoughts when the bell rang and the door shut with a swift click. He could hear Dr. Zei’s work shoes click against the linoleum tile as he walked to the front of the classroom, clapping his hands together with a proud smile. “Good afternoon, class! As you probably already know, my name is Dr. Zei, and I will be your chemistry teacher this semester. Now, I’m sure that some of you already have a negative mindset about this course, but I assure you, it’s not all bad. As a plus, I’m going to assign you a lab partner that you can work with on all of your assignments, including tests. This list is alphabetical, so, no, I did not play favorites, and still, no, there will be no switching. Either you work with your partner or you work alone. Any questions?”

Zuko could see out of his peripheral the shake of heads across the class, but his eyes stayed half-shut as she stared off into space. Dr. Zei’s voice began to list off names, but Zuko wasn’t paying enough attention to actually make any of them out. He was trying his best to fight off sleep as the names sounded off, waiting impatiently for the sound of his.

_ Please,  _ Zuko pleaded inside his head.  _ Please, please, please give me a good partner this time around. Iroh will kick my ass if I fail this a second time. _

“Next we have… Zuko Susano?” His ears perked up as Dr. Zei listed off his name. “You’ll be paired with Sokka Sialuk.”

Zuko blinked twice, confusion falling across his face as he stared at Dr. Zei.

_ No. _

_ Fucking. _

_ Way. _

There might not have been many people Zuko recognized, but he  _ definitely _ knew Sokka Sialuk. Despite his only being a sophomore, Sokka had already made quite the name for himself at the school, and it was debatable whether or not that was in a good way. Sokka was the type of character that Zuko  _ least _ wanted to be paired with. He was all too familiar with people like him. People his uncle could only hope he would turn out to be; popular, athletic, goofy. At least, that’s what Sokka looked like on the outside. On the inside, Zuko could almost guarantee that he was cocky, egocentric, and more than likely, a little stupid.

Zuko could not be more opposite than him. Sokka was swooned over, always in the public eye. Everybody in the school knew his name. He was in every yearbook photo, at every party, dated every girl, and probably cheated on every last one of them. He was just like every other boy across the entirety of the city—hell, maybe even the whole state. He was the cookie-cutter archetype of high school’s poster child, complete with good looks, nice hair, and annoying charm (and no, not the sweet “annoying.” Just plain old annoying).

When Zuko didn’t move, Dr. Zei gestured at him with his hand. “Well, come on, now. We haven’t got all day.”

Zuko sighed, standing up and carrying his bags to their respective position next to his new partner. Who, oh yeah, would be just that for the  _ entire semester. _

Upon sitting at the lab table, Sokka waved enthusiastically and smiled. Zuko brushed him off and sat down, avoiding eye contact at all costs. He would’ve been easier to ignore if he could slip his earbuds up his shirt sleeve, but Dr. Zei knew all of his tricks.

Why did the world hate him so much? Why couldn’t he just have a new chemistry teacher in a class where his partner was not  _ Sokka Sialuk? _

Seeing him up close, it became even more painfully obvious to the type of guy that Sokka was. He wore two rings on each of his hands, had a shockingly symmetrical face, and had a puka shell necklace around his neck. Despite Zuko’s immediate disregard of him, he kept the bright smile on his face, speaking aloud without any sort of hesitation. “Hi there! Did he say your name was Zuko? I’m Sokka,” he said, with what sounded like genuine excitement in his voice.

Zuko didn’t lift his head. “Yeah. I know.”

“You… know?” Sokka sounded perplexed.

“Every kid at Republic City High School knows.”

“Well, I mean, it’s still polite to introduce myself,” he said, his tone returning back to the cheery one he greeted Zuko with. “So, yeah, I’m Sokka.”

Zuko let out a small grunt in agreement. “Cool.”

Zuko definitely didn’t expect him to be so animated. He assumed Sokka wouldn’t outright ignore him, per se, but wouldn’t necessarily pay him any mind—he expected him to just talk to his friends instead like the dick he was. But, hey, even if he  _ was _ secretly a dick, at least he was pretending to be nice, which was better than what Zuko had hoped for.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t have.”

“How long have you been going here?” At this point, Sokka’s voice was beginning to falter. It was clear he just wanted to make conversation, but Zuko's headache had slowly been creeping forward.

“This is my third year.”

“Oh, cool, so you’re a year older than me?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

“Not really.”

Sokka sighed in defeat at that, Zuko relieved that he finally managed to shut him up. Dr. Zei had finished calling out the names, and was coming around to all of the lab tables to pass out the standard syllabus and first-week assignment, his voice booming across the room as he walked.

“I am providing each person with a packet containing an overview of the periodic table. Your job, over the next two days in class, is to look over everything in this packet in preparation for the quiz we will have on Wednesday. It would also be in your best interest to start going over electron configuration, as that will be our focus after Wednesday’s quiz. You and your partner may work outside of school as you see fit. If you have any questions, please let me know once I reach your table.”

Zuko turned to Sokka once Dr. Zei had finished his speech, bringing his hand up to his forehead. “Look, this situation obviously isn’t ideal for either of us, okay? We don’t seem to be entirely… compatible.”

“I never said—”

“My point is, we both know that this isn’t going to work. So, I’ll worry about my things, you can worry about yours, and if either of us is in dire need of help,  _ then _ we can worry about working together. Right now, it’s probably just best if we stay out of each other’s business and just do what we need to get by. Deal?”

Sokka only stared at him, dumbfounded. Zuko would admit, it was a little harsh, but he was able to breathe easier knowing that he wouldn’t have to deal with whatever problems trying to work with each other would’ve caused. Besides, there’s no way Sokka took a look at Zuko and was  _ excited _ about them getting paired, either. Of course, this meant that Zuko would be dealing with chemistry on his own again this year, but it was definitely better than his only other option. Working with Sokka was the only thing worse than retaking the class at all.

“I… Are you serious right now?” Sokka asked, the annoyance in his voice beginning to shine through.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Sokka’s face changed rapidly, going from confused to slightly agitated to downright  _ offended. _ “Look, I tried not to peg you as an asshole when you walked over here, but if you’re just trying to tell me you don’t like me, you can go ahead and say it straight up. It would’ve saved more time than whatever speech you just tried to give.”

It… wasn’t  _ exactly _ what Zuko was going for, but it was close enough, so he didn’t bother correcting him. Zuko only shrugged, letting his eyes fall back to the blank spot they were staring in before, resuming the pencil tapping on the desk. He could feel Sokka’s eyes burning into the side of his head, only being able to imagine the death glare that could be spread across his face right now. At this point, this was the best case scenario, and Zuko could deal with that. There were worse things, and this wasn’t something he could run away from.

_ Well, so much for a good semester. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, a few bullets.
> 
> -sokka's last name is pronounced (SAI-luhk). zuko's is (suh-SAH-noh).  
> -i mentioned this in tags but i know republic city isn't a thing until tlok but i do what i want.  
> -if you look very far back on my tumblr, you will learn that this was supposed to be a hogwarts au. except writing in one fandom is hard enough, FUCK trying to write in two.  
> -my chem teacher 1000% has the periodic jokes poster in his room but i will NOT allow any hate bc that man is the best man to have ever graced this earth.  
> -azula was just a victim so in this fic we help her out a bit. can confirm she is not evil.  
> -this has no updating schedule. i am an ap student. i will try to get things out as often as i can but unfortunately it is not my top priority. 
> 
> thanks for reading! drop a comment if you enjoyed :D

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://sokkas-ass.tumblr.com/)


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